Liberatore v. Thompson

OPINION

FIDEL, Judge.

Plaintiff Liberatore won a jury verdict of $90,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages for injuries suffered in an automobile accident. Plaintiff appeals from the trial court’s order granting defendants Thompsons’ motion for new trial.

Defendants neither contested their liability nor their susceptibility to punitive damages. Ennis Thompson admitted that he was driving while intoxicated, that he struck a car driven by Liberatore, and that the accident was entirely his fault. The Thompsons’ defense was that the accident did not cause the lower back injury…